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SB18-001

Transportation Infrastructure Funding

Concerning transportation infrastructure funding, and, in connection therewith, requiring the transportation commission to submit a ballot question to the voters of the state at the November 2018 general election, which, if approved, would authorize the state, with no increase in any taxes, to issue additional transportation revenue anticipation notes for the purpose of addressing critical priority transportation needs in the state by funding transportation projects; would exclude note proceeds and investment earnings on note proceeds from state fiscal year spending limits; would repeal an existing requirement that the state treasurer execute lease-purchase agreements for the purpose of funding transportation projects; and would require ten percent of state sales and use tax net revenue to be credited to the state highway fund for the purpose of repaying any notes issued and funding transportation projects.

Session:

2018 Regular Session

Subject:

Transportation & Motor Vehicles

In 1999, the voters of the state authorized the executive director of the department of transportation (executive director) to issue transportation revenue anticipation notes (TRANs) in a maximum principal amount of $1.7 billion and with a maximum repayment cost of $2.3 billion in order to provide financing to accelerate the construction of qualified federal aid transportation projects. The executive director issued the TRANs as authorized, and the TRANs have been fully repaid.

Section 8 of the bill requires the transportation commission (commission) to submit a ballot question to the voters of the state at the November 2018 statewide election, which, if approved:

Would authorize the executive director to issue additional TRANs in a maximum principal amount of $3.5 billion and with a maximum repayment cost of $5 billion; and

Would, in conjunction with sections 3, 4, and 7, repeal current law, enacted by Senate Bill 17-267, that requires the state treasurer to execute lease-purchase agreements of up to $1.88 billion for the purpose of funding high-priority qualified federal aid transportation projects.

The additional TRANs must have a maximum repayment term of 20 years, and the certificate, trust indenture, or other instrument authorizing their issuance must provide that the state may pay them in full before the end of the specified payment term without penalty. Additional TRANs must otherwise generally be issued subject to the same requirements and for the same purposes as the original TRANs; except that the commission must pledge to annually allocate from legally available money under its control any money needed for payment of the notes until the notes are fully repaid. Section 9 requires TRANs proceeds not otherwise pledged for TRANs payments to be credited to the state highway fund.

On and after July 1, 2018, section 5 requires 10% of state sales and use tax net revenue to be credited to the state highway fund and used first to make TRANs payments. Section 6 specifies that state sales and use tax net revenue credited to the state highway fund that is not expended to make TRANs payments and TRANs net proceeds credited to the state highway fund must be used only for qualified federal aid transportation projects that are included in the strategic transportation project investment program of the department of transportation (CDOT) and designated for tier 1 funding as 10-year development program projects on CDOT's development program project list. At least 25% of the TRANs net proceeds must be used for projects in counties with populations of 50,000 or less and at least 10% of the TRANs net proceeds must be used for transit purposes or transit-related capital improvements. Section 7 requires CDOT to include specified information about the state sales and use tax net revenue and TRANs net proceeds in its annual report to the senate transportation committee and the house transportation and energy committee.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)